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UN calls to tackle $19bn e-waste ‘tsunami’
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on May 13th, 2015
Blue and Green: The UN has expressed grave concerns over the ‘tsunami’ of dumped computers and smartphones that is expected to reach 50m tonnes by 2017.
PCs, smartphones and tablets are being illegally dumped in developing countries, with the ‘mountain’ of waste growing year by year. Sites where old devices are being dumped release toxic chemicals into the air, water and soil, posing significant health threats to an estimated 200m people globally.
A report launched in Geneva on Tuesday said that up to 90%...
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Study: cost climate change to become ‘serious challenge’ by 2040
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on March 19th, 2015
Blue and Green: Economists have said that the cost of climate change could increase significantly over the coming decades and become a “serious challenge” for businesses by 2040. They have urged businesses to consider the true financial costs of climate change in order to prepare for the future.
The study was led by the Global Climate Adaption Partnership with Daniel Black & Associates and researchers at the University of Manchester and the University of Bath. The study mapped key risk factors from climate change...
United Kingdom: Report: tackling food waste should be a priority
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on February 26th, 2015
Blue and Green: Cutting back food waste could save up to $300 billion (£194bn) each year by 2030 and make a “significant contribution” to climate change mitigation efforts, according to a new report.
The report – Strategies to achieve economic and environmental gains by reducing food waste – is from the UK government’s Waste & Resource Action Programme and the Global Commission on the Economy.
Globally around a third of all food produced ends up as waste, the value of this food is more than $400 billion (£259bn)...
United Kingdom: Labour seeks fracking restrictions to protect drinking water
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on January 8th, 2015
Blue and Green: The Labour Party is seeking to ban fracking for shale gas on land that collects Britain’s drinking water in proposed amendments to the government’s infrastructure bill. A campaign group has said such a move is “basic common sense”.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is gradually becoming more widespread in the UK although the method of extracting shale gas remains controversial.
Those supporting fracking claim it can be used as a transition fuel towards a low-carbon economy and that with the...
World must cut meat consumption to curb climate change
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on December 3rd, 2014
Blue and Green: If the world is to curb dangerous levels of climate change then more must be done to cut meat and dairy consumption, a sector that contributes greatly to greenhouse gas emissions, and raise awareness of the issues, according to a report for think-tank Chatham House.
The report – Livestock –Climate Change’s Forgotten Sector – notes that greenhouse gas emissions from the livestock sector are estimated to account for 14.5% of the global total, more than direct emissions from the transport sector....
Paul Robinson: capitalism isn’t working – speech
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on September 18th, 2014
Blue and Green: Paul Robinson, CEO of Alquity spoke about capitalism and transforming the financial industry to change the world as the company rebranded and launched a new emerging market fund. The full text of the speech is below. A kick-about that changed everything… For me, this journey started with a ball. It’s amazing how something so simple can turn out to be a life-changing moment . . . t was 1996 and I was in the middle of a year off, driving through Malawi with some other travellers. We stopped to play...
Court rules in favour Cuadrilla in anti-fracking protest dispute
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on August 29th, 2014
Blue and Green: Manchester High Court Judge, David Hodge QC has imposed an interim injunction against a group of anti-fracking protestors in Lancashire after a court battle with gas firm Cuadrilla.
Cuadrilla took up legal proceedings alongside ten local farmers earlier this week, claiming protestors were trespassing and affecting business for landowners.
The anti-fracking campaigners, also known as ‘nanas’, camped on farmland at Little Plumpton in Lancashire from August 7 – 27 to protest against proposed shale...
Rapid melting of world’s glaciers proven to be man-made
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on August 15th, 2014
Blue and Green: A study has found that more than two-thirds of the recent rapid melting of the Earth’s glaciers can be attributed to human activity.
In a new study, scientists have analysed glaciers’ melting activities since 1851, but did not find any evidence of man-made effects up until the middle of the twentieth century.
However, since 1991, there has been a huge increase in glacial melting, with 69% proven to be due to human activity.
Ben Marzeion, a climate scientist at the University of Innsbruck...
Fracking taking place US shallower depths than first thought – study
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on August 15th, 2014
Blue and Green: Ongoing research suggests fracking is taking place at much shallower depths than first thought. Authors say there is no evidence of water contamination, but more research needs to be done to assess the impact of activity at these levels.
In a presentation at the American Chemical Society conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, two researchers described their ongoing study into the depths of fracking by energy companies in the US.
The researchers from Stanford Universities School of Earth Sciences...
Giant Amazon fish being fished to extinction
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on August 15th, 2014
Blue and Green: Arapaima, one of the world’s largest freshwater fish, has been fished to extinction in some communities in South America, a new study has found.
The arapaima can grow up to 10 foot long (3m) and weigh more than 28 stone (181kg). Its size, and its tendency to swim near the surface of rainforest rivers, makes the fish an easy target.
The findings of the study, published in the journal Aquatic Conservation: Freshwater and Marine Ecosystems, contradict traditional bio-economic theory, which says...